Our country is one of the first countries in the world to establish an organized information delivery system. As early as the Shang Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago, information transmission has been recorded.
Traveling by horse was an early method of organized communication. The "Post Envoy" sculpture located in the square of Jiayuguan Railway Station is based on the mural tombs of the Wei and Jin Dynasties in Jiayuguan. The post envoy holds slips and documents in his hands, and the post horse is flying with all four legs in the air at a very fast speed. This brick mural was used as the theme pattern for small stamps by the First Congress of the All-China Philatelic Federation in 1982. This shows that Jiayuguan is one of the birthplaces of China's information culture.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, a complete system of postal transmission was formed. Especially in the Han Dynasty, the documents to be delivered were divided into levels, and documents of different levels were delivered by special persons and horses in the specified order and time. When sending and receiving these documents, you must register them and indicate the time to clarify your responsibilities.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Yi Chuan business achieved unprecedented development. The official mail transportation line of the Tang Dynasty centered on Chang'an, the capital, and radiated in all directions, reaching directly to the border areas. There was a post station approximately 30 miles away. According to the "Six Codes of the Tang Dynasty", at its peak, there were 1,639 post stations across the country, with more than 20,000 people specializing in post services, including 17,000 post soldiers. There are three types of postal posts: land post, water post, and waterway combined post. Each post station has a post house, equipped with post horses, post donkeys, post boats and post fields.
The Tang Dynasty also had express regulations on the itinerary of postal stations. A fast horse in Luyi could travel 6 stations a day, which is 180 miles, and it would be almost 300 miles a day, and the fastest requirement would be 500 miles a day; people on foot could travel 50 miles a day. When sailing against the current, the river travel is 40 miles, the river travel is 50 miles, and the other 60 miles; when sailing with the current, the distance is 100 to 150 miles. The poet Cen Shen wrote in the poem "On the way to Longshan for the first time, I submitted a letter to the judge": "One post passed by another, and the post riders were like stars; they left Xianyang at dawn, and the curtain reached the head of Longshan." Here he compares Yiqi to a shooting star. On November 9, the 14th year of Tianbao, An Lushan rebelled in Fan Yang. At that time, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was in the Huaqing Palace, and the two places were three thousand miles apart. Within 6 days, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty knew the news, and the transmission speed reached 500 miles per day. It can be seen that the organization and speed of postal communications in the Tang Dynasty have reached a very high level.
In the Song Dynasty, all official documents and correspondence organizations were collectively called "delivery", and "express delivery shops" appeared. The couriers who deliver expresses have copper bells tied to their collars. When they are running on the road, they ring the bells during the day and light the fire at night. They are not responsible for killing people. Horses were changed from bunk to bunk, people were changed from several bunks to each other, rain or shine, day and night. In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, Yue Fei, the anti-golden general, was forced to recall Lin'an from the front line by Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty with twelve gold medals. These gold medals were the gold-lettered medals delivered by the express delivery shop, which contained the meaning of great urgency.
In addition, there are bells and drums, fireworks, doves, semaphores, wolf smoke and other ways to convey information
Ancient communication
Overview
In ancient times In ancient times, our country used drumming to convey information, which was earliest at the end of primitive society.
By the Western Zhou Dynasty, our country already had a relatively complete postal system.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, with the advancement of politics, economy and culture, postal communication gradually became complete.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Wei's greatest achievement in the history of postal service was the formulation of the "Postal Service Order".
One of the signs of the development of the postal industry in the Sui and Tang Dynasties was the increase in the number of post offices.
During the Yuan Dynasty of our country, the post office developed greatly again.
The biggest feature of the postal system reform in the Qing Dynasty was the merger of "post" and "post".
After the middle of the Qing Dynasty, with the establishment of modern postal services, the ancient postal system was gradually eliminated.
Beacon fire conveys military information
"Beacon fire" is a communication method used to transmit border military information in ancient my country. It began in the Shang and Zhou dynasties and extended to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It has been used for thousands of years. Among them, the beacon fire organization in the Han Dynasty was the largest. On the heights of border defense military fortresses or transportation hubs, high platforms are built at regular intervals, commonly known as beacon towers, also known as beacons, piers, smoke piers, etc. There was a garrison on the high platform waiting for the enemy to invade. During the day, firewood was burned to raise the alarm with "burnt smoke", and at night, firewood was burned to raise the alarm with "beacon" (light of fire). When one tower lights up beacon smoke, neighboring towers will also light up their fires one after another when they see it. They will pass it from tower to tower, thousands of miles away, in order to achieve the purpose of reporting the enemy's situation, dispatching troops and generals, seeking reinforcements, and defeating the enemy.
In the history of our country, there is another story of "playing beacons on princes" in which beacons were lit at will in order to please a beauty, which eventually led to the country's demise.
After the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang Dynasty, it established its capital in Haojing, which was historically called the Western Zhou Dynasty. In the early days, in order to consolidate the state power, the king of Zhou successively enfeoffed his brothers, relatives, and heroes to various places as vassals, established vassal states, and established a whole set of systems. Agriculture, handicrafts, and commerce all developed to a certain extent.
Hongyan Chuan Shu
The allusion of "Hongyan Chuan Shu" comes from the story of "Su Wu shepherding sheep" in "Han Shu? Su Wu Biography". According to records, in the first year of the Han Dynasty (100 BC), the envoy Zhonglang of the Han Dynasty, Su Wu, was detained by the Shanyu, the Marquis of Tutankhamun, on an envoy to the Xiongnu. He was brave and unyielding, and the Shanyu exiled him to Beihai (today's Lake Baikal). ) Shepherding sheep in no man’s land. Nineteen years later, Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne, and the Han Dynasty reconciled and got married. Envoys from the Han Dynasty came to threaten Su Wu and demanded that Su Wu be released. However, the Chanyu refused and could not say so, so he lied and claimed that Su Wu was dead. Later, Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty sent envoys to the Huns. Chang Hui, the deputy envoy who went to the Huns with Su Wu and was detained, secretly met with the Han envoys one night through the help of the jailer, told the Han envoys about Su Wu's situation, and He came up with a plan and asked the Han envoy to tell Shanyu: "When the emperor of the Han Dynasty was hunting in Shanglinyuan, he shot a wild goose. There was a letter written on silk tied to its foot. It said that Su Wu was not dead, but It's in a big swamp." The Han envoy was very happy after hearing this and blamed Shan Yu according to Chang Hui's words. Chanyu was greatly surprised after hearing this, but could not deny it, so he had to let Su Wu go.
The Blue Bird Biography
According to the ancient Chinese book "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", there are three blue birds, named Zhao Lan and Zi Yan (there is also a blue bird named by the author) (not found) are followers and messengers of the Queen Mother of the West. They can fly across thousands of mountains and rivers to deliver messages, delivering good news of auspiciousness, happiness and joy to the world. It is said that the Queen Mother of the West once wrote a letter to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The Queen Mother of the West sent a blue bird to deliver the letter, and the Blue Bird delivered the letter of the Queen Mother of the West to the Chenghua Hall of the Han Palace. In later myths, the blue bird gradually evolved into the Phoenix, the king of birds.
Li Jing, the leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem: "Blue birds do not send foreign messages from the clouds, and lilacs are empty in the rain." Li Bai in the Tang Dynasty wrote a poem, "I wish to report long-lasting lovesickness because of the three blue birds." Li Shangyin wrote a poem, "Peng Peng" There are no many roads to this mountain, and the blue bird is diligent in looking for it." Cui Guofu's poem "I think of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in the distance, when will the blue bird pass by", all of which are borrowed from the allusion of "the blue bird's message".
Huang Er Chuan Shu
Everyone is familiar with pigeons delivering letters, because there is still a pigeon association and long-distance pigeon flight competitions are often held. The homing pigeon will not get lost during long-distance flights because of its unique function, that is, it can identify the direction by sensing magnetism and latitude.
There is no clear statement yet as to when pigeons started delivering messages, but as early as the Tang Dynasty, pigeons were already common. There is a record of "passing pigeons" in Wang Renyu of the Five Dynasties in "The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao": "When Zhang Jiuling was a boy, his family raised a group of pigeons. Whenever he corresponded with relatives and friends, he would only tie the pigeons' feet with books and fly according to the instructions. "Jiuling Mu is a flying slave, which is surprising to everyone at that time." Zhang Jiuling was a politician and poet in the Tang Dynasty. He not only used carrier pigeons to deliver letters, but also gave the carrier pigeons a beautiful name - "Flying slaves." . Since then, in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, pigeons have always played an important role in people's communication life.
Kite Communication
The kites we use for entertainment today played an important role as an emergency communication tool in ancient times.
Legend has it that as early as the late Spring and Autumn Period, the master craftsman Gongshu Pan (Luban) of the State of Lu imitated the shape of a bird, "cutting bamboo wood to make a magpie, and then it flew away without falling for three days." This kind of bamboo wood made of The flying "wooden magpie" made of wood was the predecessor of the kite. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun invented papermaking technology. People used bamboo strips to make frames and then papered them to become "paper kites". In the Five Dynasties, when people were making paper kites, they tied a bamboo whistle on them. When the wind blew the bamboo whistle, it sounded like a kite, and the word "kite" came from this.
The original kite was made for military needs. Its main purpose was for military reconnaissance or to convey information and military intelligence. After the Tang Dynasty, kites gradually became an entertainment toy and became popular among the people.
Lighthouse
Lighthouse originated from the signal beacon in ancient Egypt. The world's earliest lighthouse was built in the 7th century BC. It is located on Cape Baba in the Daniel Strait and stands like a huge bell tower. At that time, people burned firewood in the lighthouse and used its firelight to guide the course.
In 280 BC, the ancient Egyptians were ordered by King Ptolemy II Philedelph to build a lighthouse on Pharos Island opposite Alexandria, Egypt. It was 85 meters high and burned wood day and night to illuminate the sky. Flames and columns of smoke serve as navigation aids. The Pharos Lighthouse is known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1302. At the beginning of the 9th century, France built a lighthouse on Duhan Reef at the mouth of the Gironde River. It has been rebuilt twice so far, and the current one was built in 1611.
Among the ancient lighthouses, the Legone Lighthouse in Italy is still in use today. This lighthouse was built in 1304 and is made of stone and 50 meters high. The first lighthouse in the United States was the Boston Lighthouse built in 1716. After that, a lens lighthouse was built in 1823, an electric lighthouse was built in 1858, the caisson method was used to build a lighthouse on soft foundation for the first time in 1885, and the first gas flash lighthouse was completed in 1906. In 1850, there were only 1,570 lighthouses in the world. In 1900, the number increased to 9,400. By early 1984, the total number of lighthouses, including other lighted navigation beacons, exceeded 55,000.
Communication Tower
In the 18th century, French engineer Claude Chape successfully developed a practical communication system that accelerated the speed of information transmission. The system consists of several communication towers established 230 kilometers between Paris and Lille. A wooden pillar was erected on the top of these towers, and a horizontal crossbar was installed on the wooden pillar. People could rotate the wooden pole and swing it to various angles under the operation of ropes. There are two vertical arms at both ends of the horizontal crossbar, which can also be rotated. In this way, each tower can form 192 different configurations through wooden poles, and nearby towers can use telescopes to see information representing 192 meanings. In this way, it is passed on in sequence, and it only takes 2 minutes to complete a message transmission within a distance of 230 kilometers. This system made great contributions in the French Revolutionary War in the 18th century.
Signal flags
Signal flags have been used for communication on ships for more than 400 years. The advantage of flag communication is that it is very simple. Therefore, even though modern communication technology is quite advanced today, this simple communication method is still retained and has become an important method of short-range communication. When communicating with signals, signal flags can be used alone or in combination to express different meanings. Usually a single flag is flown to indicate the most urgent, important or commonly used content. For example, flying the letter A flag means "there are divers under my ship, please move away from my ship slowly"; flying the letter O flag means "someone has fallen into the water"; flying the letter flag W means "my ship needs medical assistance" and so on.
Semaphore
During the 200 years between the 15th and 16th centuries, fleet commanders commanded their ships by firing cannons or raising sails. In 1777, Admiral Howe, commander of the British American Fleet, printed a signal manual and became the first person to write a signal book. Later, Admiral Sir Popham used some flags as "shorthand" letters and created a complete set of flag letters. In 1805, when Lord Nelson commanded the Battle of Trafalgar, the last signal he sent before his death was Popham Signal No. 16: "Sail to the enemy and fight at close range."
In 1817, Britain Captain Mariette of the Navy compiled the first internationally recognized book of signaling numbers. There are 40 Fanghai signal flags, including 26 letter flags, 10 number flags, 3 substitute flags and 1 answer flag. Flags come in different shapes: swallowtail, rectangular, trapezoid, triangle, etc. Flags also vary in color and pattern.
Answer: Enthusiastic netizen | 2010-5-6 17:48 | Report
After King Xuan of Zhou died, his son Ji Gongni (sound niè) came to the throne and became King You of Zhou. King Zhou You didn't care about any major national affairs. He only cared about eating, drinking and having fun, and sent people everywhere to find beautiful women. A minister named Baojue (pronounced bāoxiàng) persuaded King You, but King You not only refused to listen, but instead threw Baojue into prison.
Bao Jue was imprisoned for three years. The Bao family tried every possible means to rescue Bao Jue. They bought a pretty girl in the countryside, taught her to sing and dance, dressed her up, and presented her to King You to atone for Bao Jue's sins. This girl is considered a member of the Bao family, and her name is Bao Si (sì).
King You was so happy that he got Bao Si, so he released Bao Jue. He doted on Bao Si very much, but since Bao Si entered the palace, he was in a gloomy mood and never smiled once. King You tried his best to make her laugh, but she couldn't laugh.
King Zhou You offered a reward: whoever can make the princess smile will be rewarded with one thousand taels of gold.
There was a flatterer named Guo (sound guó) Shifu, who came up with a weird idea for King Zhou You. It turns out that in order to guard against the attack of the Quanrong, the Zhou Dynasty built more than 20 beacon towers in the Lishan area (southeast of Lintong, Shaanxi today, Liyin lì), one every few miles. If the Dog Rong attacks, the soldiers guarding the first pass will light up the beacon fire; the soldiers guarding the second pass will also light up the beacon fire when they see the fireworks. In this way, beacons are burning one after another. When the nearby princes see it, they will send troops to rescue them. Guo Shifu said to King You of Zhou: "Now that the world is at peace, the beacon tower has not been used for a long time. I would like to invite the king and his wife to go to Lishan Mountain to play for a few days. In the evening, we will light the beacon fire and let the nearby princes see it. Come on, be fooled. When the empress saw all these soldiers and horses rushing to nothing, King Zhou You clapped his hands and said, "Great, let's do it." < /p>
They went to Lishan Mountain and really lit the beacon on Lishan Mountain. The neighboring princes got the warning and thought that the dog soldiers were coming, so they quickly led their troops to rescue him. Unexpectedly, when we got there, there was not even a shadow of the dog soldiers. We only heard the sound of music and singing on the mountain, and everyone was stunned.
King You sent someone to tell them, "Thank you for your hard work, everyone, there is nothing going on here, it's just the king and the princess setting off fireworks for fun, you
go back!"
The princes knew they had been fooled and went back in anger.
Bao Si didn't know what they were making. When he saw several groups of soldiers and horses descending from the foot of Lishan Mountain in a commotion, he asked King You what was going on. King You told her everything. Bao Si really smiled.
When King You saw Bao Si smiling, he rewarded Guo Shi's father with a thousand taels of gold.
King You doted on Bao Si, and later he simply deposed the queen and the prince, made Bao Si the queen, and made Bao Si's son Bofu the prince. It turned out that the queen's father was a prince of Shen State. When he got the news, he united with Quanrong to attack Haojing.
When King You heard the news of the Quanrong attack, he panicked and quickly ordered to light the beacon fire in Lishan Mountain. The beacon fire was burning, but because the princes were fooled last time, no one paid attention to them.
Dense smoke billowed out from the beacon tower during the day, and flames lit up the sky at night, but no reinforcements arrived.
As soon as the dog soldiers arrived, Haojing had few soldiers and horses, so he barely resisted for a while, but was beaten to a pulp by the dog soldiers. The troops of Quanrong poured into the city like a tide and killed King Zhou You, Guo Shifu and Bao Sisheng's uncle Fu. The unsmiling Bao Si was also taken away.
By this time, the princes knew that Quanrong had really invaded Haojing, so they united and led a large team of troops to rescue them. When the leader of Quanrong saw the army of the princes arriving, he ordered his men to rob the treasures that the Zhou Dynasty had accumulated over the years, and set a fire before retreating.